Background

Sierra Leone is one of the countries in Africa affected by the Ebola outbreak. The UN staff in Sierra Leone have been working under pressure and have directly or indirectly been affected by the outbreak.  The recruitment of a Staff Counsellor has been recommended to provide adequate Counselling Services within the mission area (e.g. overall assessment of the psychosocial needs of the staff members, development of the services, etc.).

Duties and Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Staff Counsellor will be responsible for the following duties:

Provides adequate Counseling Services within the mission area (e.g. overall assessment of the psychosocial needs of the staff members, development of the services, etc.):

• Provides supervision, guidance and leadership to other members of the counseling team;
• Performs individual assessments in the case of individual staff members experiencing difficulty coping and/or presenting mental health-related symptoms or syndromes;
• Advises the Resident Coordinator or the involve Head of Agency as necessary, on individual and /or group cases where an identified problem is likely to have professional, vocational and/or counseling effect (e.g. work-related problem due to a psychological problem, conflict resolution, etc);
• Advises Chiefs of Section, as necessary, or upon request, with the aim of improving the working atmosphere in their Sections and resolving problems of a work-related or personal nature that adversely affect job performance and productivity;
• Monitors environmental factors that could lead to stress, with particular focus on stress related to critical incidents including emergency and crisis situations, with respect to civilian staff members of the mission and advises SMT and CMT on the appropriate measures to be taken;
• Plan , develop and implement stress management training to all staff members in the mission;
• Performs Psychological first aid (e.g. individual and/or group) whenever and wherever there is a need;
• Assures, in conjunction with the Medical Services, a continuum of services (referral, short-term supportive intervention) to those staff members suffering from serious or chronic diseases or illnesses or drug and alcohol use;
• Establishes a link and liaises with the members of the Staff Welfare Committee and members in order to develop programmes designed to improve the quality of life of staff members within the mission area;
• Develops, organizes and implements a resilience-building program for all staff;
• Liaises with National Mental health professionals  and other  psych-medical resources;
• Performs other duties, as assigned.

Work implies frequent interaction with the following:

• Staff members within the work unit and across the mission;
• Resident Coordinator;
• Head of Agencies;
• HR officers;
• Welfare officers and welfare committee;
• Chief  Medical Officer  Security officers.

Expected results:

• Easy access and culturally sensitive professional counseling services to all UN staff;
• Comprehensive resilience building program  including psycho educations;
• Contingency plane and preparedness for crisis and emergency situations;
• Ongoing improvement in the working environment and monitoring mechanism of the stressful factors and provision of technical advice to senior managers.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Professionalism:

• Broad knowledge of all facets of the field of counseling and the ability to provide a confidential environment in which others can talk and act without fear or repercussions within a climate of established trust; Ability to effectively manage crisis situations which involve diverse actors and stakeholders;
• Coordinate and consult with other relevant specialist services in the Organization as per its cross-cutting functional scope which includes staff administration, Human Resources policy as well as Medical Services in respect of emergencies, support and related administrative functions;
• shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.

Communication:

• Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Teamwork:

• Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals;
• Solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise;
• Is willing to learn from others;
• Places team agenda before personal agenda;
• Supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position;
• Shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Client Orientation:

• Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view;
• Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect;
• Identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects;
• Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.
• Planning& Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies;
• Identifies priority activities and assignments;
• Adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work;
• Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning;
• Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

Accountability:

• Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honors commitments;
• Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards;
• Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules;
• Supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments;
• Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

Creativity:

• Actively seeks to improve programs or services;
• Offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs;
• Promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas;
• Takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas;
• Thinks “outside the box”; takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things;
• Is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches.

Commitment to Continuous Learning:

• Keeps abreast of new developments in own occupation/profession;
• Actively seeks to develop oneself professionally and personally;
• Cntributes to the learning of colleagues and subordinates;
• Shows willingness to learn from others;
• Seeks feedback to learn and improve.

Technological Awareness:

• Keeps abreast of available technology;
• Understands applicability and limitation of technology to the work of the office;
• Actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks;
• Shows willingness to learn new technology.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• An Advanced University Degree (Masters or equivalent) in clinical Psychology, clinical Psychiatry with clinical license to provide psychological counseling or psychotherapy;
• Additional training or certification is also required in a broad range of related fields, such as alcohol/substance abuse, stress management, Traumatic stress, cross-cultural psychology or Psychiatry, conflict resolution, etc.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience is required, of which 5 years at the international level.
• Experience in Employees Assistance Programme or Organizational Intervention would be an asset;
• Prior experience in a UN field operations is an advantage;
• Prior experience dealing with humanitarian crisis, due to infectious diseases outbreak is highly desirable.

Language:

• Fluency in spoken and written English;
• Knowledge of a second UN language is an advantage and sometimes a requirement.
• Fluency in the local language may be essential.